1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to the field of gaming equipment, and more particularly to a casino chip cleaning method and associated equipment.
2. Description of Related Art
Casino chips (also known as gaming chips, tokens, checks, and cheques) are an integral part of the casino environment. They are small discs used in lieu of currency, usually taking the form of compression-molded discs that are colored and marked with casino-specific graphics to represent various currency denominations. They are more convenient to use than currency and consumers seem to gamble more freely with casino chips than with cash. The uniform size and regularity of stacks of chips make them easier to count when used on a table compared to paper currency. The pit boss or security can quickly verify the amount being paid. The uniform weight of the casino's official tokens allows them to weigh large stacks or piles of chips rather than counting them, although counting aids such as chip trays are common, and some chips contain embedded electronic security devices to deter fraud.
Casino chips are handled daily by many people who rub them continuously over soiled tabletops. Hands and fingers range from the scrubbed and perfectly manicured to the very filthy, while tabletops can pick up and transfer many contaminants to the casino chips. The chips become color muted and dirty in a way that reflects badly on the casino. In addition to general hygiene, the possibility of significant disease transmission is a consideration. Players often touch their mouth and other parts of their face, body, and clothing in the process of making a decision, thereby transferring germs and other matter to the chips. With the rising incidence of diseases such as the Norovirus on cruise ships, frequent cleaning and sanitization regimes are rigorously enforced. In view of all this, casino owners, staff, players, and others contacting casino chips all desire ways to alleviate the foregoing concerns.
Replacing used casino chips is expensive and washing them by hand is very time consuming. Some have tried using an automated casino chip washing machine that reduces the time to clean and dry a chip. In one version, for example, the casino chips are conveyed to a vertically oriented carrier wheel having recesses in which the casino chips fit, held by their edges with both faces exposed (see, for example, United States Patent Publication No. 2008/0257388). As the carrier wheel rotates, the casino chips move past a washing station that uses a wash solution and scrub brushes. They do so one chip at a time. In addition, the washing machine fails to scrub the edges of the casino chips. Furthermore, the somewhat strong wash solution and the abrasive action of the scrub brushes may tend to deteriorate the casino chip graphics and impart accelerated wear to the chip to the point where replacement is soon required. Thus, a need exists for a better way to clean casino chips that works quickly and inexpensively without damaging chip graphics and introducing abrasive chip deterioration.